In Louisiana there are five officers charged with various crimes related to a Black driver’s death back in 2019.
Ronald Greene was reportedly killed in a car crash according to the officers charged, reported the Associated Press.
While authorities blamed his death on the car crash, suppressed body camera footage from that night tells another story. The footage shows white officers beating, stunning, and dragging Greene as he screamed that he was scared.
These officers have been charged with an array of charges, including negligent homicide and malfeasance. These are the first criminal charges filed related to Greene’s death on a roadside in rural Louisiana.
The case reportedly had little attention until the Associated Press exposed a cover-up that resulted in a review of the state police agency and a look into what the governor was aware of.
The most serious charges were given to Master Trooper Kory York who was seen physically dragging Greene and leaving him face down where his breathing could be restricted. He was charged with negligent homicide and 10 counts of malfeasance.
Other officers are facing charges for lying about the camera footage existing, exaggerating Greene resisting arrest, a regional state police commander that pressured detectives to not make an arrest and another deputy who was seen on camera taunting Greene.
One of the officers who was seen as the most culpable died in a high speed single car crash in 2020 when he was told he would be fired for his role in arresting Greene where he joked about beating him.
This incident has been kept secret by the police since the start when they informed Greene’s family he died in a crash. Both his family and the ER doctor that treated him questioned that story, but it was still listed on paperwork as a motor vehicle accident.
This is not the first case shrouded in secrecy to be discovered in the state of Louisiana.
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